Pink Ericofon

I recently listed an Ericofon on eBay and decided to do some online research on this uniquely designed telephone.  It is a design classic designed by L M Ericsson Company of Sweden in the 1940s and was first produced in 1954 and discontinued in 1972.

The first phones were produced for institutional use in hospitals.  They were used at patient bedsides as they could be lifted by the patient to the bed easily.  Imagine what it would have been like to reach or lift one of the heavy rotary phone handsets.  They were first sold for home use in 1956 in the European and Australian markets.  Ma Bell in America, resisted the Ericofon and as they had the monopoly and owned the phones, the introduction of the Ericofon to the American market was delayed.

Initially, the Ericofon was offered in 18 colors  in the North American market, selling  through North Electric (a telephone builder in Ohio), in which Ericcson had part ownership. When home sales of the Ericofon began to explode in the American market (sales exceeding capacity by 500%), Ericsson increased their holdings in North Electric to become the principal shareholder. Then around 1961 they transferred manufacture of the Ericofon for the American market to North Electric. At this time, North Electric narrowed the offering of colors from 18 to 8.

Popular among collectors, the Ericofon was produced in both rotary, dialless, and touch tone designs.

Source: Ericofon.com

Hint: Click on links for more information!

Vintage Dashund Planter

They’re too cute to throw away, but too small to use for plants or they don’t have a drainage hole. So what can you do with a collection of vintage planters?

Here are some ideas from Martha Stewart and ebay user bloomingale54:

• business card holder
• pen and pencil holder
• paint brush holder
• fill with candy or small gifts and wrap with clear wrap for a lovely and quick gift
• use in the bathroom to hold hair clips, guest soaps,seashells or marbles
• use in the bedroom as a tray to hold change, keys or other contents of your pockets
• use to hold jewelry
• on your tea tray to hold sugar lumps, napkins,tea bags or cups
• at the kitchen sink to hold scrubbers, dish and hand soap, or bottle and vegetable brushes
• at your desk to hold paper and binder clips, pens and pencils, notepaper, and even the stapler and hole punch

To clean these beauties, always hand wash using a gentle scrubber and a product like Bon Ami to remove mineral deposits and water stains. Use a steel scrubber very gently to remove the most stubborn stains.

Hint: Click on the links for more information!

Vintage Hotel Postcard

You find them in stacks of old postcards everywhere–the motel/hotel postcard. They were usually given away free to overnight guests and were a great way for the innkeeper to advertise. But today they are a history of the great motels and hotels of the past. American families used to take gas guzzling road trips for vacations—gasp! And stayed in family friendly motels on the way. So contained in many family collections are the postcards picked up on the way.

Today these remnants of a day gone by are snapped up by postcard collectors specializing in motels and hotels. Collector Andrew Wood says “While I collect linen motel postcards, even that focus allows a number of specializations. On a given day, I’ll point out my sub-collection of Wigwam Villages, Alamo Plazas, sombrero-themed motel postcards, or art deco-streamline modern motels.”

 Here are some recommended reference books for motel postcard collectors:

Gas,Food & Lodging: A Postcard Odyssey through the Great American Roadside	Home Away From Home:Motels in America	The Motel in America

Hint: click on photos and links for more information!

On Sunday, I’m listing a bunch of vintage kitchen utensils so I thought I’d share a few thoughts about collecting these little bits of history.

Who doesn’t feel nostalgic when you see a kitchen utensil that you remember your mother or grandmother using in her kitchen?  I certainly do and I think that this is the basis of the appeal of these wonderful collectibles.  Add in the factor of the emotionality of remembering the products of the kitchen shared with family and friends at the dinner table, and you’ve got a highly popular collectible.

Some collectors buy whatever is unusual or interesting.  But since these items were made to be durable, there are lots of them still around.  So many collectors specialize.  Green and red handled tools appear to be highly sought after, as are cookie cutters, trivets, ice cream scoops, flour sifters, openers, and eggbeaters. Other collectors concentrate on manufacturers like Ekco, Foley, or Gilchrist, or magazine ads, booklets, and/or packaging. And, of course, there are always the collectors of Bakelite.  It seems a premium is paid for any tool whose handle is made of Bakelite.  Get your favorite bakelite testing method ready for these.  Collectors want to know that it is really bakelite.

I’ve incorporated links to recommended collector guide books throughout this post, so click away for more information.

The Most Highly Recommended: 

  The Postcard Price Guide by J.L. Marshburn. Even if you just pick up a card here and there, this reference guide will give you an idea of what to look for in the way of rarities so you can keep an eye out for bargains. It’s also lots of fun to page through just to look at the photos, and offers a good historical perspective as well.
 

Highly Recommended:

• Picture Postcards in the United States 1893-1918  by Dorothy Ryan 
• The Artist-Signed Postcard Price Guide- A Comprehensive Reference
  by J. L. Mashburn
  
•  Postcard Companion: The Collector’s Reference by Jack.H. Smith
• The Encyclopedia of Antique Postcards/Price Guide (Wallace-Homestead Price Guide) by Susan Brown Nicholson
• Standard postcard catalog;: A price guide for postcard collectors, by James Lewis Lowe
• The Collector’s Guide to Postcards by Jane Wood
  

Recommended:

• Fantasy Postcards With Price Guide, A Comprehensive Reference by J.L.Mashburn
  
• Vintage Postcards for the Holidays- Identification & Value Guide
  by Robert Reed, Claudette Reed
  
• The American Postcard Guide to Tuck by Sally Carver
• Postmarked Yesteryear- Art of the Holiday Postcard  by Pamela E. Apkarian-Russell
  

“It is impossible for a woman to appear chic without a hat.”
–Emily Post, 1959

Fantastic Vintage Hat

In the early 1900s, hats were considered vital to women’s fashion, and although the styles have evolved throughout the decades, hats didn’t fall out of vogue until the 1960s – and then returned in the ‘70s. With materials ranging from felt to silk to straw to leather, and styles ranging from large, elaborately-designed ladies Victorian tea hats to the Art Deco influenced, tight-fitted 1920s flapper cloche hats, there’s no shortage of vintage hats to collect and enjoy wearing.

20's Style Cloche

Here are some resources you might find helpful:

The Hat Museum This museum is a must for any hat lover!!!
There are two floors filled with hats, featuring collections of “Antique and Vintage Hats”, “Men’s Hats”, “Novelty and Costume Hats” and “Today’s Fabulous Hats”.
There is a gift shop in the basement which sells new and vintage hats.

Hat care and sizing tips

Here’s some advice for collectors from two experts in the field.

Determining a hooked rug’s age can be challenging–even for dealers. Newish rugs, if worn and faded, can look old, while truly old rugs, if well stored for a long period of time (as good ones often were), can look new. Some tips that might help: If the rug material is synthetic, think circa or post 1930. And if the design features primary colors and cartoonish objects and figures, it’s probably from the 1920s or ’30s. Repair patches on the back or tightly woven linen backing often indicate rugs that are decades older.  From Country Living

An antique rug is usually considered as one made between 1775-1825. From 1825 to 1875 collectors identify them as “early,” while “late” covers the years from 1875 to 1900, and “modern” are those made within the last fifty years. Age in a hooked rug is revealed to some degree by pattern and subject, but more by the use of a hand-woven foundation material of cotton or linen, as well as the presence of vegetable dyes. The linen foundation was soon superseded by burlap, so that while rugs containing linen bases are definitely antique, few are to be seen.    From Old and New

Historical Cards

Historical postcards are printed to commemorate events such as war, social problems, expositions, parades, coronations, politics and so on. These cards offer much to the serious collector in the way of increased value. This is a wide open field with much to offer anyone interested in twentieth century history. Often this type of card was made of a real photograph with few copies being offered for sale. This is especially true of disaster cards depicting floods, fires, wrecks, etc. Often the historical significance of a card comes form the message written by the sender.

Hawaii Statehood

A Google search reveals links to many museums and library collections of postcard images related to a specific location. So pick your location and/or topic and begin your collection!

I’m planning a series of articles on postcard collecting and last week’s article on real photo postcards was the first of the series.  Today, I want to show you how to take the clues from the back of the postcard to help you determine approximate dates.

Postcard Back

• Card has  printed stamped government postals with space on one side for the address only – This is likely from 1861 (when postcards were first authorized) to 1898.  Privately printed post cards were not allowed, though in 1893 full color postcards were printed on the reverse side of the US government printed side.
• Card has  printed logo on one side “Private Mailing Card”  –  This is likely from the period 1898 to 1901.  Only the address was allowed on the address side, but the card was printed privately.  Often the image side was printed to allow space for senders to write a message.  Messages were not allowed on the address side.
• Card has the words “Post Card” or “Postcard” on the address side with no divider –  This is likely from 1901 – 1907.   Only the address was allowed on the address side and space was still frequently left on the image side for messages.
• Back has a divider –  1907 or later.  The address, and the message were now on the same side, allowing for the image to take up the entire front.  Most cards were printed in Germany, and the lithography processes there were so advanced that most cards from this period are spectacular.  Postcard sending and collecting became a mania, and this collecting frenzy was only slowed by WWI which cut off the supply of the quality produced cards from Germany.  Every home had its postcard albums, and communication by postcard was “the norm.

Paint By Number Kit

Paint By Number Kits were first produced in the early 1950s by premier manufacturer Craftmaster. The first artist was Dan Robbins. Paint By Number became a craze and thousands of painting kits were manufactured and sold. By 1960, the craze had burned out. In the following decades, paint-by-number paintings fell out of favor and were thrown away or were stored in attics, barns and basements.

In the mid-1980s, a few collectors began to emerge. Galleries exhibited collections of PBN paintings, usually tongue-in-cheek. In 2001, the Smithsonian Museum held an exhibition of PBN paintings, and a catalog was published. William L. Bird, Jr. was the show’s curator, himself a paint-by- number collector. Since the close of the Smithsonian exhibition, prices are beginning to escalate for certain works.

Knowing which images to collect is important. Clearly, the first generation of CraftMaster pictures have surfaced as the most collectible. The 36 original designs of Dan Robbins are the most sought after. Additionally, there are the works of Adam Grant, another CraftMaster artist and a specialist in figure painting. “Love Ballet”(18″ x 24″) and “Ballet Intermission” (12″ x 16) are two of his most popular first generation CraftMasters. Grant’s works today can bring anywhere from a few hundred dollars to maybe as much as $800 or more for his super CraftMaster masterpiece, “The Red Shoes”(27″ x 36″).

Picture Craft, a competing company, made some very appealing pictures, also printed on canvas. The very popular image, “Oriental Cat”, is one of those odd ’50s juxtapositions of content, miniature dancing Siamese figures, incense burning and a big white cat. Another very popular title was “Mediterranean Scene”, a beautiful picture in very controlled colors. Both date to the early ’50s.

Collecting today is often subject specific. There are collectors of birds, tropicals, dogs, cats, children, horses, flowers, etc. Some ’60s vintage pictures can be bought for two or three dollars. Some can run into the hundreds for nudes and French scenes. The “Blue Heron” is from the ’60s and is superbly colored. It will usually sell for $40-$60.

Paint by Number-Deer by Stream

As is the case with so many collectibles, the most valuable are the very first generation of works produced. But some really great later pictures are very worthy of collecting. For reference I recommend the Paint By Number Museum online and the book Paint by Number: The How-To Craze that Swept the Nationby William L. Bird Jr.